α-Fe2O3 nanocolumns and nanorods fabricated by electron beam evaporation for visible light photocatalytic and antimicrobial applications.

Both Fe2O3 thin films and nanorod arrays are deposited using electron beam evaporation through normal thin film deposition and oblique angle deposition (OAD) and are characterized structurally, optically, and photocatalytically. The morphologies of the thin films are found to be arrays of very thin and closely packed columnar structures, while the OAD films are well-aligned nanorod arrays. All films were determined to be in the hematite phase (α-Fe2O3), as confirmed by both structural and optical characterization.